The Chase
by Celais
Summary: AU: Clarke Griffin will stop at nothing to bring down the men who killed her father, no matter how dangerous it might be. Sure, the Mountain Men have an incredible amount of power, but she's willing to do whatever it takes to expose them to the world for what they really are. But what happens when a handsome freckled Blake from the FBI gets put on the case?


**A/N: **I don't know what I'm doing. I've had this idea for a fic in my head for so incredibly long and after last episode I decided to finally write it down.

* * *

**CHAPTER ONE**

Loud screams erupted from the first floor when two masked men forced their way into the library on second street. The screams echoed through the building, all the way to the third floor where a petite blonde smirked into her book, enjoying the loud music that played in her ears through her earbuds.

The men flashed their guns across the room, ordering the people to stay silent. Nevertheless, people panicked as they ran further into the building, knowing there was no other way out than the front door that the men were currently blocking.

Some even grabbed their phones, perhaps to call the authorities, maybe even film the scene that was happening before their eyes. One of the men's eyes landed on a phone and he stepped forward, loudly speaking, saying,

"You can call the cops if you like," he roared through the now quiet building, "but you'll be dead before they pick up." A few gasps were hear and a few people sought shelter behind a bookshelf or desk.

The same thing was happening in the second and third floor. They were all hiding, praying to stay alive. All except the pretty blonde. Some tried to get her attention, to get her to leave, but she seemed too consumed by her book. Or maybe her music was too loud for her to hear them, but what they didn't know was that she could hear every word they were saying to her, every curse shot her way, she could hear them. Yet she didn't make an effort to hide from the men.

The men left the first floor and ran up the stairs, not wasting one more glance at the people. They knew they were too frightened to even try to overpower them. And they didn't particularly care if they called the cops. Because these poor people didn't know that they had already been notified.

They arrived on the second floor but didn't bother to take on step off the stairs. They didn't need to be there, their destination was set on the third. So they kept running up the stairs, moving one foot after the other, going as fast as they could. They needed as much time as they could get to crack that safe.

For the first time all afternoon the blonde looked up from her book and watched as the men came closer. It was just a quick glance before she returned her attention to the same page she'd been staring at for approximately two hours. She heard the footsteps come closer and she smirked silently into her book as a firm hand curled around her hand, roughly dragging her from the chair.

Playing the part, she sobbed once, and tried to resist any movement but the man was much stronger than her. She screamed for help as she disappeared into another room.

She cleared her throat as she was released. "You're late."

* * *

*Earlier that day*

"Let's go over it one more time, shall we?" Clarke suggested. Next to her, Monty, Jasper and Miller all agreed. "I will leave for the library in an hour. I will wait there until you show up. Now, we all know that Collins will know where we are the minute you two barge into that building. He's been hot on our tail these past few months and he's got people everywhere. So, when you guys are in, we have about nine minutes before he shows up. Nine minutes to get in, crack the safe, take whatever's in there and get out.

The problem, however, is that we don't know the precise location of the safe yet. We know it's somewhere on the right wing on the third floor but we don't know where exactly. We've narrowed it down to a room, but that room's gigantic.

Monty, is your device ready to go?" They'd gone over this a million times, but they couldn't afford to make one little mistake. They had only a little time and this was their most important job until now.

"It's ready and it will work. But cracking the safe might take a while."

"Worst case scenario, the safe has a six digit code, can you make that work in say, seven minutes?" He raised his eyebrows.

"Have you met me?"

"Unfortunately, I have." Raven joked as she walked into the lair. She was a member of the team, just like all the others, but tonight she didn't have to do anything. Clarke knew she felt kind of left out, but she'd helped Monty with all the preparations. "Tonight, then?"

Miller shook his head. "This afternoon. Collins will expect more from us at night, because we always perform at night. He won't know what hit him" A very satisfying thought to all of them.

Finn had been hunting them for months. He was the lead detective on their case but he was the biggest moron, which was exactly why they got away with everything. He was too dumb to find a pattern between their raids. Not that anyone could blame him, they were careful like that. They made sure one heist didn't look like the other. They couldn't leave a trail behind and risk everything they've worked years to build.

"What's on the schedule after this?" Raven asked. They never really knew what was up next. They always hoped they'd find something useful and dig into that. Still, everyone looked expectantly at Clarke and she smiled.

"I'd say after today we deserve a break."

"But we still haven't chosen a destination for the money yet." Jasper spoke up.

"How about we worry about that after we actually _get_ the money?"

"Probably a good idea."

* * *

*Present*

_07:22_

Clarke rummaged through the bag that Jasper had carried with him until she found Monty's latest creation. She handed it to Monty and he smiled.

"Alright, let's get this party started." He picked it up and pressed it against the wall, slowly moving it from left to right. He kept going but nothing happened, and worry swept through Clarke, afraid it didn't work as well as Monty had thought it would. Which was the exact moment it started to beep. She took the beeping as a good sign. "Jasper, you're up."

_6:04_

Jasper made his way to the wall and started investigating it, searching for the smartest way to get to the safe. Clarke's phone started buzzing and she saw Miller as the caller ID.

"It's Miller." With that she stepped to the side and answered it. "What's wrong?"

"He's closer than we thought. I tried to stall him for as long as I could but it didn't last for long. You have four more minutes max." Shit. She hung up and returned her attention to Jasper, who was now assaulting the wall with the back of his gun. She frowned at Monty.

"What are guns for?"

"That was Miller."

"How much time do we have?" Jasper grunted as the safe appeared before him.

"Not nearly enough." How Finn was so quick was beyond her, how the hell did he manage that?

"Can you think of something? We've spent months preparing for this, you can't pull the plug now." He was right. Quickly, she dialed Miller.

"How fast can you get here?" A tap on the window reached her ears and she looked up to see Miller raising his eyebrows at her. They would have used that exit to get out in the first place, but right now, she wasn't so sure they could make it without getting shot at. Which was not a risk she was willing to take. She staggered to the window and opened it to let him in. "You thinking what I'm thinking?"

He nodded and tossed her a piece of cloth, which she prayed was clean, and she shrugged off her black jacket. Miller pulled a mask over his head as she turned around and held up the cloth for him to take.

"Are you sure about this?" He asked once more, and she nodded. It was the only way. It would be the biggest boost for Collins' ego but there was no other way.

Miller gagged her with the cloth, carefully, as he knotted it behind her head. He wasn't a big fan of this, but he, too, knew that it would buy them time. Besides, Clarke had already set her mind on this, so there was no way that it wasn't happening.

He grabbed the spare gun from Jasper's bag and waited. They could now hear the sirens and they listened as they grew louder and louder. It was probably only a minute more before Collins would lead his troops into the battlefield.

Clarke glanced at Monty, who had cracked the first digit. The nerves were getting to him, that much was obvious. He had never been a big fan of the dangerous situations they put themselves in, but he would never let them go in alone. Especially not Jasper. They were inseparable.

"He's here." Miller's voice pulled her from her thoughts. "Ready to put on the biggest show of your life, Clarke?" She just nodded, afraid her voice would fail her if she tried to speak.

"How long do you guys need?" Miller asked Jasper.

"At the rate this is going, I'd say three, maybe four more minutes."

"Make sure that the second that thing is opened, you're ready to go. When I release Clarke, they won't waste a second." Jasper nodded.

"Try and keep them as far away from the door as possible. It'll make slipping out easier." Miller nodded and turned to the door. He listened to the sounds outside the door intently, as did Clarke, but there wasn't much to hear. A bad sign. He tightened his grip on the gun, grabbed Clarke by her hair and yanked her outside, using her as a shield.

Collins brought less men than he had expected. Bummer. He checked their positions while Clarke started crying uncontrollably. She deserved an award for her acting talent. He spotted Collins on the staircase, just below the second floor. He was staring him straight in the eye, shooting daggers at him. If only looks could kill.

"Let the girl go!" He shouted. Miller had to stifle a laugh.

He spoke in a low voice as he replied. "Like that's going to happen." He waited a second, for dramatic effect, and to buy extra time before he continued. "Here's a better idea. How about you and your group of morons get out of this building and let us go in peace. _Then_ I'll let the girl go."

"There's no other way out, you might as well surrender now. No one has to get hurt." Finn yelled, ignoring everything that came out of Miller's mouth.

"You know what? You're right. I don't need this bitch." He shoved Clarke forward and put the gun against her temple. She looked at him with tears in her eyes. If he didn't know any better, he'd believe it.

"Don't do this" Collins shouted. But his eyes flickered left, so Miller's did too. He spotted an officer not too far away from him, moving to hide behind the railing, and in his current position, he'd have a clear shot. Quickly he took a step forward and lunged at Clarke, locking her between his body and his arm and she screamed as he did. Luckily for him the scream was slightly silenced by the cloth in her mouth.

"Not one step closer." He spoke in a low, dangerous voice. "I'll shoot her." He took a small step back to the door. He glanced quickly into the room and saw Jasper shoving some money into the bag and Monty was already out the window. He could release her now and make it out, but he wasn't sure how fast Jasper was, especially not with a bag full of money and other stuff. So he didn't.

He took a daring step further out of the room and smirked at Collins, infuriating him even more. Oh, how he _loved_ doing that. From the corner of his eye he could see Jasper get up and nod at him. He let out a breath he didn't know he was holding. He glared at the officer, waiting for him to take a step back. He pulled the hammer down until the all too familiar click rang through his ears. He wasn't keen on shooting someone, but he would if he had to. Which was not now. He kept the gun at Clarke's temple, careful not to let his nerves get the better of him and accidentally pull the trigger as he kept glaring at the officer. He hesitated a moment, looking back at Collins, who was glaring at him now too, before taking a step back.

A victory smirk formed on Miller's lips and within a second he had released Clarke and jumped back into the room. He shut the door and locked it in one swift move before jumping out the window and following in Jasper and Monty's footsteps.

Clarke didn't waste a second when Miller released her. She sprinted away from the door, 'accidentally' standing in the way of the officer for a moment, not long enough to cause suspicion and ran down the stairs before jumping into Finn's arms. He whispered something in her ear that sounded an awful lot like "It's okay, babe. I've got you." She almost vomited at his words.

She had never liked him. Not one bit.

When she first found out that they needed information from the cops to get this done, she thought she'd send Raven. They knew each other, which would make it easier, less suspicious. But they soon learned that Raven wasn't the best liar, and especially not to Finn. He was the only family she had and even though he was technically the enemy, she did care for him.

Which was why Clarke took over. She 'accidentally' met him at Raven's garage and again when she went to file a report after something 'got stolen'. At first he wasn't too bad. He was good looking, naïve and genuinely believed everyone liked him.

But after a while he started acting like he was prince charming, rescuing her from the tower that she'd been locked up in. He wanted to rescue his princess, but Clarke didn't need protecting. In fact, she didn't want to be kept safe. She _craved_ danger. It wasn't something she thought she could live without, and she didn't have to try. So long as _they_ were out there, she would be in danger.

When he finally let her go she turned around and watched as a squat team broke through the door. Something that she couldn't quite make out was said over the walkie-talkie and Finn gently pushed her into the arms of another officer.

"Take her to the station for debriefing." He commanded and without another look her way, he went in after the others.

* * *

"What were you even _doing_ there?" Finn almost yelled at her. She faked a few more tears. Playing the damsel in distress wasn't something she liked, but it was sure as hell something that worked in her advantage. There was something about men and their egoes, that made the idea of rescuing a woman irresistible. They wanted to be heroes. And women know it.

"I come there all the time." She said, no longer crying now. "It's a public place." She lied smoothly.

"You could have been _killed!"_

"I'm still here aren't I?" She was getting impatient with him. The debriefing was over, and he was still torturing her with questions that she didn't want to answer. She just wanted to go back to the lair and make sure everyone was okay. "You have my statement, I think we're done here." She stood up and made an attempt to leave, but he grabbed her upper arm, preventing her from going further.

"I'm not done with you yet."

"But I am with you." She pulled away from his grasp and made her way to the exit, almost bumping into a guy that just walked in. She mumbled a quick sorry before leaving.

* * *

"Finn Collins?" The man turned around and eyed him for a second before replying.

"Who's asking?"

"Bellamy Blake, FBI." He grabbed the badge from his inner pocket and showed him it. Then he turned to the woman beside him. "This is Marie, my partner. We've been told you're the lead detective of the investigation of the raids that've been going on."

"Yes, I've been trying to catch them." Trying, and failing. "So?" Bellamy smirked.

"We're taking over the case." Collins' eyes grew wide.

"You can't be serious." He raised his voice. "Why? On whose orders?!"

"That information is confidential." He could see Collins was about to lose his temper. "Look at the bright side, now you can sit back and relax while we catch them."

"But it's _my_ case." He stressed on the 'my' part, and Bellamy had to struggle not to roll his eyes at him. Why did people always make such a big deal of this? The FBI had better resources, was more advanced and could do a better job than some lead detective. Besides, he was obviously failing at his job, so why was he acting like the world was ending?"

"Not anymore." He stared Collins dead in the eye, hoping that would tell him to stop resisting. "Now if you'd _please_ hand over the files, we can leave you to you other cases." Collins pressed his lips together in a thin line before he sighed.

"Maya!" He said loudly. The girl, who Bellamy assumed was Maya, almost had a heart attack. "Get this man everything we have on the trio." The girl nodded and scurried away. Collins didn't bother looking at him and Marie and excused himself. All the people working under him must hate their lives.

It didn't take long for the girl to return and he smiled and thanked her as she handed the box to him. There wasn't a lot in it, and he shouldn't have been surprised. There wasn't a lot to find on these guys and even if there was, he hardly doubted Collins could put it all together.

Before he could stop himself he asked. "Who was the blonde that ran into me?" She glanced around for possible eavesdroppers before replying softly.

"Finn's girlfriend up until five minutes ago." The look in her eyes told him she thought the blonde was right to dump him, and from the few minutes he'd spend with him, he couldn't disagree.

"Well, Maya, thank you for the files. And please tell Collins that he can expect to see us more often." She nodded and he and Marie said a quick goodbye before walking out the door. He handed Marie the box, to grab his phone. He needed to tell Shumway that everything went smoothly well, as smooth as expected.

"Bell," Marie said and he turned his attention to her. "Why did you ask who that girl was?

"Just curious." He replied with a small smirk on his lips. She gave him a look and he laughed at her. "What? Can't a man be 'just curious' about a girl?"

* * *

"You guys okay?" Clarke asked as soon as she arrived. She sprinted over here, as fast as she could, with the worst case scenarios running through her head.

"Of course we are. Are you?"

"I'm afraid we have to find someone else to help us with the PD. I'm done with Collins." A loud laugh escaped Miller as he looked at Jasper, who sighed and handed him a couple of bucks from his pocket. Clarke couldn't help but smile about the situation. "What was the bet about?"

"How long you and prince charming would stay together. I said you wouldn't be able to keep up with him for over two months. Jasper disagreed."

Jasper groaned. "I had a little bit more faith in you than that."

"Well, I'm thankful for it but in this case it was misplaced. No one can keep up with him for that long." She shivered at the thought of another few months. "But seriously though, Jasper do you think Maya will be able to provide us with some information?"

Maya was a detective too, although Collins liked to pretend she was just an assistant. She had a crush on Jasper, and Clark was pretty sure he had one on her too. He told her he was a fanatic. That he was obsessed with what they were doing. She kept him informed of the things that she could tell him without giving him confidential information. She'd tell him things that would be in the newspaper the day after, or what kind of crazy things Collins made her do. Most of the time it wasn't very useful, but they didn't need it at that point, they gained access through Collins for that. Maya was mostly just a backup. That, and Jasper really liked to spend time with her.

"Afraid not. She just texted that she won't be able to keep me updated anymore, the case was taken over by someone else."

"Who?"

"She didn't say, but Collins is their best detective so my guess isn't on someone in the PD."

"So, what? FBI?" Miller asked.

"Monty?" Clarke said. If anyone could find out it was him.

"Already on it." And he started typing the way only Monty can. His fingers grazed over the keyboard as several tabs pulled up on the screen. One seemed to be the camera that hung right across the street of the PD.

"I was there an hour ago, there wasn't anyone strange. Besides if they had already visited then, Collins wouldn't have been the one debriefing me. So it must've been after that I bumped into a guy when I walked out. He was with a girl, they looked like they could be cops." She got a few looks from the others. "What? Can't someone look like a cop?"

"It's okay, we've got to start somewhere." Monty said, never taking his eyes of the screen. Clarke admired his devotion so much. His knowledge of computers and other technology. It seemed there was nothing that went beyond him. What she ever did to be lucky enough to get him on her side, she didn't know, but she was damn grateful she did.

"Okay let's see…." Everyone moved toward Monty, looking at the screen. "Here's you walking in with the cop.. fast forward a little bit…"

"There." Clarke said, pointing at the duo on the street. She watched as Monty pressed play again. They were talking, occasionally laughing as they made their way to the entrance, where she saw herself hurriedly walking into him. She walked past him and she saw him look back once before disappearing inside. Monty fast forward a little bit until they came back outside. "They're holding a box." Monty started working on the keyboard again and everyone watched as he zoomed in on the feed, cropping it and sharpening it. The letters were clear now. 'Property of the NYPD. Confidential.'

"I'm waiting for you apologies now. I was totally right about them." Clarke said, jokingly.

"Beginners luck." Miller replied.

"Can you run a facial on them?" She asked Monty, ignoring Miller.

"I'll try but there's a chance I won't find anything."

"Collect everything you can."

"What about our vacation?" Jasper asked. Clarke sighed, she really longed for her bed.

"It's still on, but we need the information anyway, might as well get it now. I'll go though it some other time." Raven snorted behind her. Everyone was thinking it. If it existed, Clarke would get on it right away. She knew it too, but she wouldn't keep them from their vacation. God knew they needed it. And they all deserved it. "Relax, we have all the time in the world. We have the blue prints from the Jaha's, we just need to find out where they're from. But the Weather hasn't changed yet. There's nothing on their or our radar, we can take a break. Figure some things out. I can do that and still butter up this guy." She pointed at the screen. "We deserve a break, and I fully intent on taking one. I'm gonna get a job, unpack my boxes that are _still_ stacked up in my apartment, and talk to this guy once or twice. I have to know him before we know our next mission anyway."

"You don't always have to do it, Clarke." Miller said. "You deserve the break as much as we do."

"Yeah." Jasper agreed. "Besides, I can _totally_ butter up the chick, you know."

"And _that_ is exactly why you're not doing it." Raven spoke up before Clarke could. "You don't call a girl a 'chick', I don't call you a pig, even though you are one. You have a sort of girlfriend, remember?"

"And _this_, my friends," Clarke intervened. "Is exactly why we need that break. Monty, just collect it, I'll get on it. It's not a big deal. It's one small task, an hour a week max. I'll have that break." Monty nodded.

"I already found him." Everyone's attention returned to the screen again. "Bellamy Blake. Was a cop in Maine before he moved to New York and joined the FBI two years ago."

"Relationships?"

"None that I know of."

"Perfect. What about the girl?"

"She seems like a ghost. There's no evidence that she exists before 2012."

"Two years…" That's not suspicious at all.

After Monty had collected a bunch of info on Bellamy, nearly nothing on 'Marie', everyone went home, including Clarke. When she came home she didn't bother with the boxes, she went straight to her bedroom and started reading. She was curious about him. She liked to know what she was up against.

Bellamy Blake had a track record. Countless arrests for things including trespassing, assault, breaking and entering. He spent a couple of months in juvie after he stole diamond earrings from his girlfriend's parents. Classic.

Still, he managed to get out on top. Moved to New York, got his shit together and actually became a cop. If there was anything Clarke had an immense amount of respect for, it's having the guts to start over and _making_ it.

After all was said and done, she knew she had to do the same, but she wasn't so sure if she could. She couldn't imagine her life without the guys and Raven. And she didn't want to imagine it either. She wasn't even sure if she'd make it out alive. The road she was going on was dangerous, with booby-traps everywhere. But she was too far in to go back now.

This has been her life for years.

She sighed and went to the kitchen, knowing there was probably nothing there for her to eat or drink, after all, she hasn't been in her apartment in over a week. Still, she decided to think positively, but that soon escaped her when she was faced with an empty fridge.

She glanced at the clock. If she hurried she could make it to the store in time to get something to drink.

After his conversation with Collins he wanted nothing more than to go home and collapse on his bed, maybe watch some TV while lying on the couch. It was either that or punch something. But more than anything, he wanted something to drink. Unfortunately, he was all out of beer, whisky, wine and all else alcohol.

Which was how he ended up at the supermarket ten minutes before it closed. He got a few glares from the employees, who were obviously hoping to go home early. He was, as far as he could see, the only customer, so he made sure to hurry.

He made his way to the alcohol corner in the back of the store. Grabbed a six pack, and turned around only to crash into someone. This day couldn't get any better.

"Sorry, you okay?" He asked, trying his best not to sound annoyed. The girl huffed, obviously not putting in the same effort as he was, and gathered the content from her purse that was scattered around on the floor. When she stood up, he finally saw her face and smirked at her. "Well, well, well, twice in a day. What have I don't to deserve such pleasure?"

She glared at him and he watched as her eyes softened a bit. She looked surprised, probably recognizing him. Her eyes left his and she let them roam over his body. His smirk grew even wider. "See something you like, princess?" He didn't know why he used a nickname, but it fit her, in an odd way.

She didn't hesitate before responding. "Aside from the beer? Not really, no." He glanced at his six pack and then at her.

"We can share." She met his gaze again and tilted her head a bit. Her expression was unreadable until she smiled.

"I don't share." With that she brushed past him, grabbed a six pack for herself and left him standing there on his own, while she made her way to pay for it. He watched her as she paid for it, smiling at the employee once before she walked out of the store.

* * *

**A/N: **That was the first chapter. I already know how the story is going to go (and end for that matter) but it really depends on the response if I'll bother writing it down, so let me know what you think ^^

\- C


End file.
